Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38295115›Full record

ArticlePloS one2024

Development and initial validation of a family activation measure for acute care.

Sophie Hallot, Vanessa Debay, Nadine Foster, Karen E A Burns, Michael Goldfarb

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
2.3field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the TOGETHER Family-Reported Experience Measure of Nurse-Facilitated Family Engagement in Adult Acute Care.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026
    Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Sophie HallotMcGill Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Vanessa DebayMcGill Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Nadine FosterPatient and Family Partnership Committee, Canadian Critical Care Trials Group, Markham, ON, Canada.
Karen E A BurnsInterdepartmental Division of Critical Care, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Michael GoldfarbDivision of Cardiology, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.ORCID 0000-0001-9790-1232
McGill University · CAJewish General Hospital · CASt. Michael's Hospital · CAUniversity of Calgary · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundActivation of a family member refers to their desire, knowledge, confidence, and skills that can inform engagement in healthcare. Family activation combined with opportunity can lead to engagement in care. No tool currently exists to measure family activation in acute care. Therefore, we aimed to develop and validate a tool to measure family activation in acute care.

methodsAn interdisciplinary team of content experts developed the FAMily Activation Measure (FAM-Activate) through an iterative process. The FAM-Activate tool is a 4-item questionnaire with 5 Likert-type response options (ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree). Scale scores are converted to a 0-100 point scoring range so that higher FAM-Activate scores indicate increased family activation. An overall FAM-Activate score (range 0-100) is calculated by adding the scores for each item and dividing by 4. We conducted reliability and predictive validity assessments to validate the instrument by administering the FAM-Activate tool to family members of patients in an acute cardiac unit at a tertiary care hospital. We obtained preliminary estimates of family engagement and satisfaction with care.

resultsWe surveyed 124 family participants (age 54.1±14.4; 73% women; 34% non-white). Participants were predominantly the adult child (38%) or spouse/partner (36%) of patients. The mean FAM-Activate score during hospitalization was 84.1±16.1. FAM-Activate had acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's a = 0.74) and showed test-retest responsiveness. FAM-Activate was moderately correlated with engagement behavior (Pearson's correlation r = 0.47, P <0.0001). The FAM-Activate score was an independent predictor of family satisfaction, after adjusting for age, gender, relationship, and living status.

conclusionThe FAM-Activate tool was reliable and had predictive validity in the acute cardiac population. Further research is needed to explore whether improving family activation can lead to improved family engagement in care.

Indexed as

Mental ProcessesPersonal SatisfactionAdultAdult ChildrenAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPsychometricsReproducibility of ResultsSurveys and Questionnaires

Identifiers

PMID38295115
PMCPMC10830022
OpenAlexW4391381307

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.